"Never forget that everything
Hitler did in Germany was legal."
-- Martin Luther King Jr.

"A president of the United States has just
assumed what amounts to dictatorial power."
--William Safire (Republican former speechwriter for President Nixon),
New York Times, "Seizing dictatorial power", November 15, 2001

"The government will
make use of these powers only insofar as they are essential
for carrying out vitally necessary measures...The number of cases in which
an internal necessity exists for having recourse to such a law is in itself
a limited one."
-- Adolf Hitler, promise to the Reichstag (Parliament) on the occasion
of the "Enabling Act," the imposition of "temporary"
dictatorship following the Reichstag Fire. www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/enabling.htm

Bill
of Rights to the United States Constitution

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom
of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably
to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Free speech isn't a reality when the government
is reading our emails, tapping our phones, and intimidating the public
into being quiet about crimes of state.

Amendment II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free
state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be
infringed.

The Second Amendment was established to balance federal
power with local militia. The federalizing of the National Guard (1973)
overturned this right.

Amendment III
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without
the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be
prescribed by law.

The Patriot Act's "sneak and peek" provisions
allowed federal agents to snoop in your home without notice and without
a warrant.

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not
be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,
supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the
place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The ECHELON program of the National
Security Agency made this right moot a long time ago.

Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except
in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when
in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person
be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life
or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness
against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without
due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public
use, without just compensation.

Corruption in the judicial system is so entrenched
that this right also vanished decades ago.

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to
a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall
have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the
nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses
against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in
his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

The declaration from the dictator that certain persons
can be designated "enemy combatants" removed from any judicial
oversight is an invalidation of this right. This abuse of power could
easily be scaled up to encompass much larger numbers of victims.

Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and
no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court
of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

The "enemy combatants" declaration shows
that this right has been invalidated by the regime.

A peaceful protestor at the 2000 Republican National
Convention was detailed on a one million dollar bail for an alleged
misdemeanor. This right to be free from cruelty is a nice idea.

Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not
be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

We the People have the power to take back the country,
if we really want to.

Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively,
or to the people.

The Constitution did not provide for the establishment
of a National Security State beyond the rule of law.

The USA PATRIOT Act is similar to the Enabling Act passed in
Germany in 1933 after the "burning of the Reichstag" (parliament), since both were after a terrorist act blamed on foreign
infiltrators. It's not an exact parallel, since the UPA isn't quite as
draconian as the Enabling Act, but it is a close historical analogy.

However, the pending "Domestic Security Enhancement Act"
- also known as "Patriot Two" - would be closer to Hitler's
Enabling Act. The DSEA allows for stripping US citizens of citizenship
if they are assumed to be acting for a foreign power as inferred by their
conduct, which is an extremely dangerous definition. Once stripped of
citizenship, Americans could then be held in indefinite detention. This
is very similar to the legal pretexts used in Nazi Germany to round up
dissidents, and later, to deport Jews to the death camps.

Congressional Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) is the only Presidential
candidate who called for REPEAL OF THE PATRIOT ACT. This position was
on the front of his web page, which is at www.kucinich.us

The unPatriotic Act was promulgated on the fiction that the government
couldn't "connect the dots" of clues about 9/11, and that it,
and the Homeland Security Department, were needed to prevent another 9/11
from happening again. Failure to question
9/11 is tacit support for the USA PATRIOT ACT.

Patriot Act vs. German Enabling
Act

The Decrees of 1933

(a) The February 28 Decree. One of the most repressive
acts of the new Nazi government, this one allowed for the suspension
of civil liberties ....The president was persuaded that the state was
in danger and, hence, that the emergency measures embodied in the decree
were necessary. Even though under Art. 48 of the constitution, the decree
would have been withdrawn once the so-called emergency had passed, any
hope of this happening was prevented by the establishment of Hitler's
dictatorship following the Enabling Act (see below). It was in fact
never withdrawn and remained until the end as an instrument of Nazi
terror against ordinary citizens who ran foul of the regime.
ARTICLE 1. In virtue of paragraph 2, article 48,* of the German Constitution,
the following is decreed as a defensive measure against communist acts
of violence , endangering the state:
Sections 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124, and 153 of the Constitution of
the German Reich are suspended until further notice. Thus, restrictions
on personal liberty [114], on the right of free expression of opinion,
including freedom of the press [118], on the right of assembly and the
right of association [124], and violations of the privacy of postal,
telegraphic, and telephonic communications [117], and warrants for house-searches
[115], orders for confiscation as well as restrictions on property [153],
are also permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed.
*Article 48 of the German Constitution of August 11, 1919: If public
safety and order in Germany are materially disturbed or endangered,
the President may take the necessary measures to restore public safety
and order, and, if necessary, to intervene with the help of the armed
forces. To this end he may temporarily suspend, in whole or in part,
the fundamental rights established in Articles 114, 115, 117, 118, 123,
124, and 153 ...........

Patriot Act:

Section 218 which amends the "probable cause"
requirement before conducting secret searches or surveillance to obtain
evidence of a crime;
Sections 215, 218, 358, and 508 which permit law enforcement authorities
to have broad access to sensitive mental health, library, business,
financial, and educational records despite the existence of previously
adopted state and federal laws which were intended to strengthen the
protection of these types of records;
Sections 411 and 412 which give the Secretary of State broad powers
to designate domestic groups as "terrorist organizations"
and the Attorney General power to subject immigrants to indefinite detention
or deportation even if no crime has been committed; and
Sections 507 and 508 which impose a mandate on state and local public
universities who must collect information on students that may be of
interest to the Attorney General.

Congress Expands FBI Spying Power
By Ryan Singel
Story location: www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,61341,00.html
02:00 AM Nov. 24, 2003 PT
Congress approved a bill on Friday that expands the reach of the Patriot
Act, reduces oversight of the FBI and intelligence agencies and, according
to critics, shifts the balance of power away from the legislature and
the courts.

It Didn't Take Long, Did It?
By Greg Palast
GregPalast.com
Friday 15 July 2005

Well, it didn't take long, did it?
In the USA, the curtain opened on new anti-terror follies Wednesday
when three Senate committees, in blustery response to the London
bombings, voted to extend the power of the FBI under the Patriot
Act to obtain library records without a subpoena. Exactly what suicide
bomber or sleeper cell has so far been exposed by this powerful new
intelligence weapon, we are not told. Did Osama fail to return his copy
of 'Harry Potter'? Or 'Hijacking for Idiots'?
What we have here is the great con: to get us to pull each other's hair
over the sanctity of library card privacy. We're dragged into some nit-wit
debate over the "balance between security and civil liberties"
- with the defenders of America against terrorism sneering at the sissies
from the ACLU.
Civil libertarians are all shook up that the FBI is going through our
summer reading list. My concern is deeper. What I want to know is, who
at the FBI is poring over my choice of novels, how much do we pay this
guy and why isn't he reviewing Swiss and Pakistani bank transfer records
instead

Center for Law and the Public's HealthModel Health Emergency Lawwww.publichealthlaw.net/
a law that is worse than the Patriot Act

Analyses of "unPatriotic Act
2"

"With the INS reorganized as of March 1 and operating
within the Department of Homeland Security, policies against immigrants
and citizens that are undemocratic, un-American, and inhumane are likely
to continue unabated. And, if and when the Domestic Security Enhancement
Act of 2003 (already nick-named Patriot II), becomes law, any
American citizen, American citizens who support the lawful activities
of an organization the executive branch deems "terrorist" may
be presumptively stripped of their citizenship and deported to parts unknown
or detained by INS indefinitely."
The War on Immigrants: Detained in America By ELAINE CASSELwww.counterpunch.org/cassel03122003.html

www.counterpunch.org/neale04102003.html
April 10, 2003
A Patriot Attack on America - Ashcroft's War on the Bill of Rights
By GEOFFREY NEALE
With public attention riveted on the war in Iraq, politicians may be planning
to launch a sneak attack against the American people.
Their weapon: Patriot II, a piece of legislation that would give the government
frightening new powers, including the ability to make secret arrests,
issue secret subpoenas, create a vast new DNA database and even strip
Americans of their citizenship and deport them.
Formally called The Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 (DSEA),
the legislation has been shrouded in secrecy, prompting civil liberties
groups to fear the government has been waiting for an opportunity -- such
as war or another terrorist attack -- to rush it through Congress.